Role Of HR In Developing Talent At Work - Literature review Example

Role Of HR In Developing Talent At Work The role of human resource management has increased with the passage of time considering managing businesses have become far more complex and difficult. Today it is important for human resource department to not only manage the workforce of the organisation but it is also the responsibility of human resource department to train employees and develop talent in the workforce of the organisation so that they could replace the existing top managers. Human resource department needs to groom the talent of the workforce in order to improve the productivity of the organisation both in the short run as well as in the long run. Talented employees would not only reduce the cost of the organisation but it would help in enhancing the productivity of the company and for this human resource department needs to assure that the existing leaders of the organisation are competent and have the qualities to lead the organisation and at the same time develop and train future leaders (Farley, 2005). Farley has focused on the long term growth and success of the organisation and he has identified talent management as an important tool that can be crucial in achieving long run success. Grossman (2007) has emphasized on the concept of talent management as well and he has given considerable importance on this subject. Grossman (2007) has defined talent management as how an employee enters the organisation and moves across from one department to another and from one organisation to another. He believes that organisation should pay attention on managing talent however it must ensure that the overall organisational structure and organisation design must not be hurt. He feels that it is important for an organisation to not neglect any of these important aspects i.e. talent management and organisational structure as an organisation without proper organisational structure would not be able to succeed in the long run. It shows that organisation should focus on talent management however in order to manage talent proper, HR department of an organisation should not ignore the importance of organisational structure and organisational design. Grossman (2007) has also focused on rewarding talented individuals which is an important aspect because by rewarding such employees, the motivation level of employees would increase and they would put an extra effort to increase the level of productivity or at least maintain their productivity level. Thus, all in all it would be helpful in improving the organisational productivity. Farley (2005) has emphasized that there should be a link between the business goals and workforce needs. Farley in his article tried to form a linkage between the people who are working in the organisation and the business processes and have made an attempt in identifying the areas from where an organisation earns its revenues so that the organisation should focus on areas from where it is generating more revenue. His article sends a message that human resource department is not just only for recruitment and evaluating performance of employees, but the role of human resource management is very broad than what it has been considered in the past. Today, human resource department needs to be responsible for effective human resource planning, succession planning, training, career development and talent management. HR department needs to identify the talent who would be able to take on the challenges to lead the organisation in future. So, as talent management with which the organisation would identify future leaders, its importance cannot be ignored. The main idea behind Farley’s article is to that human resource department needs to take more responsibility in facilitating the productivity of the organisation by helping employees to be more productive and identify areas from where the company earns its revenue. Such an article is important in today’s aspect where competition is become intense day by day and organisations are trying to cut their costs in order to maximise their profitability. Blass and April (2008) said that managing talent has been a strategic priority for most of the organisations but still more than half of the line managers are unwilling to this process of managing talent. Considering the situation, most of the line managers are willing to grow and improve themselves rather than thinking about the overall productivity of the organisations and thus they have a fear in mind that their subordinates might replace them. Thus, the role of human resource management in such a situation is critical as well as it has to make workforce realize and understand that it is a part of their responsibilities to train and develop talent and help their subordinates and so that the overall productivity of the organisation improves. Also Blass and April (2008) have claimed that talent management is very important for an organisation as it helps organisations to make their future better. However they have also claimed that the way talent is managed varies from one organisation to other and from one industry to other. Though regardless of the industry and organisation, talent management should remain an important consideration for every business if it is willing to grow and achieve success. Also there is no hard and fast rule of how an organisation should manage the talent of the organisation however the organisation needs to consider the overall mission, vision and long term objectives of the organisation which it would like to achieve. In addition to this, Blass and April (2008) have come up with five dimensions impact on how talent is managed and developed in an organisation. These dimensions are development path, development focus, support, influence on career and connected conversations. Dividing employees into these five dimensions would be helpful for the organisation in developing the talent of the individual not just for the current job and for his current responsibilities, but for future jobs as well. Thus it would help the organisation in the long run. No organisation could aim to achieve success and grow without having proper talent management and using the most important talent of the organisation in the most effective way. Therefore the role of human resource management is crucial in the long run success of the organisation. Grossman has claimed that the chances of HR professionals to be successful have decreased today unless they develop new skills and competencies and help in proper and effective planning of the organisation. Talent management is very important because it helps the organisation to develop talent for future. Organisations that are able to do succession planning proper and identify and retain talented individuals are able to succeed. According to a survey conducted from 40 companies, almost all the companies pointed out that despite of having dedicated systems and despite of spending so much money, they do not have sufficient talent that could fill in the gap and take some of the most important positions in the organisation (Ready and Conger, 2007). This reflects that most of the organisations have already been emphasizing on having proper talent management systems and proper planning for future employees but regardless of all their efforts and investment, organisations are not able to identify, recruit and retain talented employees that could replace the existing leaders of the organisation. Organisations need to focus on developing talent and training employees, however this is just one aspect as on the other hand organisations also need to pay sufficient benefits and rewards like competitive salaries, bonuses and incentives to employees so that they are able to retain the most talented employees and the investment they have made in polishing the talent of individuals. Reference list Blass, E & April K 2008, ‘Developing Talent for Tomorrow’, Ashridge Business School. Available from [Accessed 29 October, 2011] Farley, C 2005, ‘HR’s Role in Talent Management and Driving Business Results’, Employment Relations Today, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 55–61. Grossman, R 2007, ‘New Competencies for HR’, Society for Human Resource Management. Available from [Accessed 29 October, 2011] Ready, D & Conger J 2007, ‘Make Your Company a Talent Factory’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 85, no. 6, pp. 68-77. Read More